Power News - Published on Fri, 21 Sep 2018

L3 MAPPS has been awarded a contract from the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety to upgrade its Flamanville 3 (FA3) nuclear power plant engineering simulator, based on Framatome’s EPR design. The FA3 simulator is one of four PWR simulator configurations that can be operated on the Simulateur d’Observation du Fonctionnement Incidentel et Accidentel (SOFIA). The current upgrade project involves modifications to align the simulator’s FA3 plant models with the latest plant design information. The upgraded simulator will be carried out as a joint project between IRSN and L3 MAPPS.

Mr Michael Chatlani, Vice President of Marketing & Sales for L3 MAPPS Power Systems and Simulation said that “This project is the result of L3 MAPPS’ competiveness, state-of-the-art technology, EPR know-how and previous effective collaborations with IRSN. We’re pleased our cooperation with IRSN on the SOFIA simulator continues.”

Mr Robin Dorel, IRSN Project Manager for the SOFIA Simulator said that “The simulator configuration upgrade will allow IRSN to improve its personnel training and safety analysis studies capabilities related to the Flamanville 3 nuclear power plant. The L3 MAPPS and IRSN teams have worked well together, and we look forward to jointly developing another successful project.”

The original FA3 simulator, developed by L3 MAPPS, has been in service since September 2011. IRSN’s SOFIA simulator hosts four French plant configurations, namely CP2 (900 MWe), DPY (1,300 MWe), N4 (1,450 MWe) and EPR (1,650 MWe).

The upgrade project includes modifications to the plant models in L3 MAPPS’ one-of-a-kind Orchid® Modeling Environment. The simulator’s electrical and hydraulic systems will be updated by IRSN. L3 MAPPS will modify the safety and operational instrumentation & control systems. IRSN will also modify the existing human-machine interface in L3 MAPPS’ Orchid® Control System software with L3 MAPPS’ support. The integration and testing phases will be shared by IRSN and L3 MAPPS.